Crushed
by Smickan
Summary: Love is in the air at Holby! Two different crushes, two similar outcomes... Set before Donna slept with Michael.


"Can I help you Nurse Jackson?"

Donna cringed, wondering if she dare summon the courage to tell Connie just what she could do with her-

"Nurse Jackson?"

"Mrs Beauchamp..." Donna attempted to keep her tone cheerful. "Is Mr Hope available?

Connie clicked her tongue impatiently and narrowed her gaze. "If you're after a vitamin B injection for your hangover again...!"

"No." Donna cut her off, pouting a little. "I have the results he was after." She handed over a file, glancing casually behind Connie – as casual as standing on tiptoes could be - "I thought he might appreciate the personal touch."

"Of course you did." Connie sneered, purposely moving more into Donna's eyeline. "Nothing to do with Mr Spence being part of the meeting is it..."

Donna's expression fell. "Not at all." She pouted, muttering to herself as she crossed the room to where Maddy was sat behind the desk. "Stuck up cow." She growled, missing Maddy's pained whimper. "Always thinks she's something special."

"Who?" Maddy croaked, nursing a large cup of the strongest black coffee known to the medical profession.

"Connie Beauchamp." She sniffed, her lips set in a pout. "She thought I was making up excuses to go see Mike!"

"And was he there?" Mark stopped to listen, smirking.

"Well yes."

"And did you look?"

"I might have." Donna looked thoughtful, eyeing Maddy as she gave another low groan and reached for her purse, pulling out a £20 note to hand to Mark. "...What's that for?"

"I lost." Maddy scowled. "I thought that if you were feeling as dead as me you wouldn't be trying to get him to put his thermometer in your-"

"Maddy!" Mark admonished with a smirk, stopping her before they were overheard.

Donna glared, scoffed and stormed off, leaving the other two behind, Maddy whimpering pathetically at Mark.

Mark chuckled and gently squeezed her arm, passing two aspirin. "Just what the doctor ordered."

Maddy smiled gratefully and took the tablets, swallowing a mouthful of coffee with them. "Why did it have to be Thursday?" she whimpered again, resting her pounding head against the cool surface. "I've got the whole weekend off, why did I have to agree to go out on a _school_ night!?"

"Comes to us all." Mark laughed. "Though you might want to go wash your hands and face and wake up a little more before Doogie Howser does his rounds."

Maddy brightened just slightly and adjusted her top, soon disappearing into the locker room with her bag, reapplying the basics of makeup to remove the green tinge from her skin. Once satisfied that everything was in place she sprayed some perfume, sucked a mint and left the locker room in time to see Linden. "Mr Cullen..."

"Dr Young." Linden gave her the briefest of nods, moving to examine one of the patients, talking quietly to her.

"**Surgery**!?" The patient swallowed, looking nervous. "But I can't stay in that long! I have my children to look after, I'd need to-"

"You'd be out the same day." Linden stopped her.

"... Are you not busy?"

"I can do it here."

"So you're a consultant?" The woman swallowed. "But this isn't an operating theatre!"

"Surgical Consultant." Linden nodded. "There's nothing to worry about, we can do everything here."

"**Here**!?"

"There's a special operating room on the ward." Maddy stepped in to soothe her, seeing how distressed she was. "It wouldn't be right here."

"Oh. Right. Yes. And the same day?"

Linden nodded, borrowing a biro from Maddy as he wrote, something she couldn't help but smile about as she remembered Dan's penchant for not carrying his own pen. "Can you...?"

"Sorry?" Maddy shook herself awake, forcing herself to stop thinking of Dan and concentrate.

Linden sighed, gesturing to her stethoscope, supporting the patient as she leant forward, his own pressed against her back. "I do hope we're not keeping you awake, Dr Young."

Maddy flushed as she lifted her own stethoscope, pressing it to the opposite side of the patients back. "Sorry."

"Can you hear that!?" Linden cut her excuse off, his lips pursed.

"Hear?" Maddy frowned, unable to hear anything other than her own pulse.

Linden sighed and excused himself to the patient, picking up the wire tubing that had come off Maddy's stethoscope causing it to separate. "Perhaps we should start today again?"

Maddy blushed, apologised and took the end of her stethoscope from Linden's hand, disappearing to find a replacement.

"How's it going!?" Donna asked, "Seen Mike anywhere?"

"Horribly." Maddy sighed, ignoring the second part of Donna's question. "I just realised something terrifying."

"Oh?" Donna coaxed, smirking just slightly.

"Yes." Maddy continued past her friend. "For one horrible moment back there I thought I was turning into you."

Donna blinked before catching on and scowled, glaring after her. "Very funny."


End file.
